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Noise-free Cryogenic Wavefront Sensing. This project aims to optimise the prototype adaptive optics technology for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) by leveraging past investment in adaptive optics instrumentation and shortwave infrared detector systems. This project expects to generate significant improvements in GMT performance, with ten times greater image resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope and current estimates of >90% sky coverage, compared with ~50% coverage for current technology ....Noise-free Cryogenic Wavefront Sensing. This project aims to optimise the prototype adaptive optics technology for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) by leveraging past investment in adaptive optics instrumentation and shortwave infrared detector systems. This project expects to generate significant improvements in GMT performance, with ten times greater image resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope and current estimates of >90% sky coverage, compared with ~50% coverage for current technology. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of a highly trained workforce and continued international collaboration in the field of high-technology sensor systems. This contribution to the GMT will provide significant benefits—it will change the way we view the Universe.Read moreRead less
Light from darkness: understanding extrasolar planets from their shadows. This project aims to determine the detailed properties of "sub-Saturn" planets. Theories of planet formation are heavily biased toward explaining our Solar System, which is not representative of the general population of planetary systems in our Galaxy. The vast majority of other planetary systems feature “warm sub-Saturns”: planets of ~10-100 Earth masses orbiting close to their host star. Due to a shortage of well-charac ....Light from darkness: understanding extrasolar planets from their shadows. This project aims to determine the detailed properties of "sub-Saturn" planets. Theories of planet formation are heavily biased toward explaining our Solar System, which is not representative of the general population of planetary systems in our Galaxy. The vast majority of other planetary systems feature “warm sub-Saturns”: planets of ~10-100 Earth masses orbiting close to their host star. Due to a shortage of well-characterised sub-Saturns, little is known about their composition and detailed properties. This project aims to advance our understanding of planet formation via intensive, dedicated ground-based characterisation of these new planets.Read moreRead less
Catch me if you can: The race to rescue the smallest planets. This project will upgrade a unique Australian observatory to study the smallest planets around other stars, using an innovative new technique to provide high precision measurements capturing the tiny shadow of planets as they cross in front of their stars. The project aims to generate new knowledge on potentially Earth-like planets and contribute to the legacy of current and next-generation space telescopes. Expected outcomes include ....Catch me if you can: The race to rescue the smallest planets. This project will upgrade a unique Australian observatory to study the smallest planets around other stars, using an innovative new technique to provide high precision measurements capturing the tiny shadow of planets as they cross in front of their stars. The project aims to generate new knowledge on potentially Earth-like planets and contribute to the legacy of current and next-generation space telescopes. Expected outcomes include preserving a list of best planets for in-depth characterisations, and the first Australian facility to match the capability of space observatories: detecting planets as small as Earth. This project will benefit the international community by optimising the effort of future space telescopes.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100050
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$151,962.00
Summary
Minerva: a dedicated exoplanet observatory. Minerva: a dedicated exoplanet observatory: Low-mass planets are extremely common, but the ability to characterise them in detail is severely limited by the availability of telescope time. The Minerva project, led by Harvard, is a dedicated multi-telescope facility which will be able to intensely monitor nearby bright stars for the small radial-velocity "wobbles" due to orbiting terrestrial planets. This project will purchase a telescope for the Minerv ....Minerva: a dedicated exoplanet observatory. Minerva: a dedicated exoplanet observatory: Low-mass planets are extremely common, but the ability to characterise them in detail is severely limited by the availability of telescope time. The Minerva project, led by Harvard, is a dedicated multi-telescope facility which will be able to intensely monitor nearby bright stars for the small radial-velocity "wobbles" due to orbiting terrestrial planets. This project will purchase a telescope for the Minerva array. This innovative facility will give Australian exoplanetary scientists a privileged position in this new research. The arrangement will give the Australian and US partners exclusive access to the observational data on the smallest planets orbiting the nearest stars.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101893
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,489.00
Summary
The Origins and Evolution of the Most Abundant Planets in our Galaxy. The majority of planetary systems around other stars are not like our Solar System. We now know that the most common types of exoplanets are super-Earths and Neptunes, planets with sizes ranging from Earth to Neptune, residing close to their parent stars. This project aims to characterise these planets at various stages of their evolution. This project will utilise Australian facilities to characterise new planets from the TES ....The Origins and Evolution of the Most Abundant Planets in our Galaxy. The majority of planetary systems around other stars are not like our Solar System. We now know that the most common types of exoplanets are super-Earths and Neptunes, planets with sizes ranging from Earth to Neptune, residing close to their parent stars. This project aims to characterise these planets at various stages of their evolution. This project will utilise Australian facilities to characterise new planets from the TESS space telescope, and is expected to probe the dynamical and physical properties of super-Earths and Neptunes as a function of age. Important benefits from this project include directly answering the origins of this dominant class of planets, and developing the techniques for the next decade of exoplanetary research.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101639
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$444,075.00
Summary
Getting to Know the Neighbours: Naked-Eye Stars and Their Planets. We now know that nearly all stars host planets, and exoplanet science is now turning to bright individual systems. This Project aims to study the nearest, brightest stars by extending the capabilities of NASA's TESS telescope and Mount Kent Observatory. This is significant as the best chance we have to detect planets around stars bright enough to measure the planetary and stellar properties precisely. The expected outcomes of th ....Getting to Know the Neighbours: Naked-Eye Stars and Their Planets. We now know that nearly all stars host planets, and exoplanet science is now turning to bright individual systems. This Project aims to study the nearest, brightest stars by extending the capabilities of NASA's TESS telescope and Mount Kent Observatory. This is significant as the best chance we have to detect planets around stars bright enough to measure the planetary and stellar properties precisely. The expected outcomes of this project will be the discovery of planets transiting nearby naked-eye stars, and crucial measurements of the masses of these stars and planets. The benefits of this will be a key sample of new, well-understood benchmark systems, and new open-source algorithms for data analysis in astronomy and more broadly.Read moreRead less